The last known state of Montrachet, from the Kalina Archive.

Since Eater put a bounty on the location of Restaurant Liebrandt, the new restaurant that Paul Liebrandt has acknowledged is in the works, we've had a few folks come forward with bit and pieces of intel. The common theme of this material is, Restaurant Liebrandt is opening in early 2008 in the space formerly known as Montrachet. But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

There is enough credible buzz in circulation to have us fairly convinced that Paul Liebrandt is opening his Restaurant Liebrandt this fall, perhaps quite soon. There was Thorn's sidebar-reveal, then a bit more from Mouthing Off. Plus, if one wades through copious amounts of Flash at PaulLiebrandt.com, one notes that the restaurant is announced on his site for "Fall 2007" (note screen cap). But -- and here's where this goes off the rails -- that's all we know. Liebrandt will not answer our emails or return our calls, and, much more surprising, he's been able to keep the location completely out of the press elsewhere. Frankly, it's driving us mildly insane.

It's the end of the day, and thus time for a dose of 'wire. Strap in, we've got a lot of ground to cover.

A reader who lives in the neighborhood sends this image of the fire-gutted Sunflower Diner on Third between 26th and 27th Streets.

TRIBECA—The rumor mill is once again churning about Paul Liebrandt's supposed takeover of Montrachet. Drew and Paul have been seen together in public several times of late, such as at Food & Wine's Best New Chefs private dinner party, and there's also word from the pavement of activity at 239 West Broadway, ie. Montrachet. Excerpted from an intrepid tipster's dispatch: "I live around the corner from Montrachet and something is happening. Plenty of people in and out of the space for the first time in months. Just guessing here,but planning for something might be underway." [EaterWire]

LOS ANGELES—The winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize for food journalism has been announced: the recipient is restaurant critic Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly. He's the first food writer to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism. [Eater LA]

MIDTOWN WEST—Never have the words "midtown hotel restaurant" excited us as much as they have in conjunction with Johnny Utah's, a bar-restaurant rumored to be opening complete with a mechanical bull. A tipster writes, "Johnny Utah’s will be located in the Rockefeller Center Hotel, 25 West 51st. I believe it’s the old Club Quarters Hotel." Sure enough, there it is on the hotel's website. [EaterWire Inbox]

[Kalina, 9/9/05.]

Montrachet, the critically acclaimed Tribeca French restaurant that has long been the elder statesman of the Myriad Restaurant Group's stable of venues, has been shuttered since late May for renovations, having endured a substantial chef shuffle in September of 2005. It's not closed, see, just temporarily locked up for tweaks, this according to Myriad Restaurant Group and Drew Neiporent, their fearless leader. He has assured us of as much on more than one occasion since Memorial Day '06. Summer renovations? Fine. Delays into September and October? Fine-ish. But now it's February '07 and the once-three-stared (most recently two-starred) Montrachet has been closed for 8 months and it's time to ask the hard question, will Montrachet ever open again?

· Despite reports of an outright shuttering of the beloved Montrachet, word from Drew is that the restaurant is simply on vacation for the summer and will be back open, 21 years and counting, post Labor Day. [EaterWire]

· As Eater Bonus enthusiasts will have noted, The Villager reports that there may be a third round for the beloved East Village taco shack, Snack Dragon: "While it’s not 100 percent finalized, [owner] Jansen plans to move around the corner from where the Taco Shack originally stood, a space on E. Third St. between Avenue A and B by July 1. Not a shack, but an actual building, Jansen explains that the new spot will be more of “an in-post instead of an out-post.” She plans on having a “drive-thru” style window, where she’ll dish out tacos, as well as stools and a counter inside to eat on." [The Villager]

· "there is new chef de cuisine at Applewood.. Young guy, from upstate ...buying a lot of stuff from up there too.. " [EaterWire Inbox]